This week, Google has clarified some very important TOP ranking factor Myths that has been in the SEO World since a long time. Lets see them one by one:

Top Ranking Factors Depend on the Search Query: Google

Yes, this is quite a surprise. The Old combination of factors like Backlinks, Content and RankBrain are not applicable for every search query. Below is the twitter confirmation from Gary:

Backlinks are not a ranking factor for long tail search queries

Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed on Twitter that he has already said at Brighton that there are billions of TOP results on Google which does not have backlinks/links at all, including a lot of long tail queries w/o links. So Webmasters, stop worrying about getting backlinks for long tail queries, focus on your content and on-site SEO.

Google Algorithms ignore “Disavow” file for link spam

Google has made is clear that its algorithm don’t look at disavow files updated in the Google Webmaster Tools, instead it uses the disavow to ignore links pointing to a site. This is deliberately done to avoid black-hat spam.

Click data on Google search results page is not a ranking factor

Google’s Mueller clarified that Google Does not use click data, behavioral data, or pogosticking in search ranking algorithm. The confirmation came with the Hangout video of John Mueller, watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=316&v=Bgy8bQebnbc

Shopping Cart Abandonment is not a ranking factor as well

Well, this was no surprise. Stop worrying about your Shopping cart bounce rates as far as the SEO rankings are concerned. Google does not use this for search ranking algorithm. However if your website is ranking high but your shopping cart abandonment rate is high then there must be something wrong you must fix.